The Warcrown Legacy by Michael James Ploof

Author:Michael James Ploof [Ploof, Michael James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Traveling Bard Publishing
Published: 2018-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Night fell on Pearlton, and with it a haunting wind came from the east, howling through the tall pines as Dirk and Krentz spied the city. Chief had been away for nearly a half hour, and Dirk was beginning to get worried. If there was a necromancer about, then Chief would find it, Dirk had no doubt about that. What worried him was that perhaps Chief already had. In the past, the spirit wolf hadn’t fared well against necromancers, for they were spirit lords, the masters of the undead, and Chief was often helpless against their power.

“Give him some more time,” said Krentz, noticing Dirk’s worry.

“The city’s not that large. He should have been back by now.”

“Alright,” she said. “Come on.”

Dirk followed close behind as she slipped through the shadows, avoiding the moonlight. The number of guards patrolling the ramparts had doubled since they left the city, and more were at the gate. Others patrolled the perimeter outside the city walls, their eyes alert and their posture rigid. They acted not like men on just another night of patrol, but rather like desperate men scared for loved ones.

“They look like they are expecting an army,” he noted as Krentz ducked down behind a felled tree.

“Something’s terrifying them,” she said. “But it isn’t us.”

A pair of guards walked by silently, their eyes searching the tree line carefully. When they had passed, Krentz gestured to Dirk. She led him to the coast and away from the wide-open space between the tree line and city walls. They slipped into the water a few hundred yards up the bay and stealthily swam to the sitting ships anchored there. The docks were heavily guarded, but they were not as well lit.

Dirk and Krentz waited at the edge of the boardwalk that swung around from the city to the docks and back again. When two guards came along, Dirk hit them each with a poisoned dart that would incapacitate but not kill them. Then he pulled their unconscious bodies into a rickety boathouse. After stripping the men and dressing in their armor, Dirk and Krentz stepped out of the boathouse and marched into the city.

If my nose is correct, whatever we’re looking for is this way, said Krentz as she turned down a quiet street.

Dirk had not the keen nose of an elf, but he could smell it all the same. It was faint, but it was there—the rancid stench of death. They passed other guards, some offering a downward nod, others too busy with their worries to notice. One thing Dirk noticed about the city, aside from the wary guards, was the lack of light coming from the surrounding buildings.

“This way,” said Krentz, and she slipped through a church gate.

The church was as quiet as the rest of the city, but its lights were burning inside. The stained glass windows glowed with internal light, and the smell became worse with the shifting of the wind. Krentz glanced back, offering Dirk a frown.

“It’s a necromancer,” she said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.